Thanks to my reviewers of Chapter 25: FoxyWombat, CynthiaB, SandyKirsten, BeAuTiFuL mAdDnEsS, She Loves Shoes. I love hearing what you guys think of the story. Okay, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 26: The Acceptance

APRIL 1, 1981

NEWPORT BEACH, CA

"Hey Kirst! Wait up!" Jimmy yelled to his blond girlfriend who was walking ahead of him.

She stopped when she heard his voice and turned around with a big smile on her face and met him with a kiss when he got close.

"Guess what today is!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"April Fool's Day. And no tricks, okay!" Kirsten told him.

"Well, yes it is…and I'm not guaranteeing no tricks…but that wasn't what I was talking about…today, our college acceptances come…and also rejections, but hopefully there won't be any of those."

"Oh my God! I can't believe I forgot about that…well, I mean I didn't really forget, but you know what I mean…" Kirsten trailed off.

"Yeah, so do you want to come over after the mail comes…open them up together," Jimmy asked.

"Um, yeah sure," Kirsten said somewhat flustered.

"What's wrong?" Jimmy asked her.

"Nothing," Kirsten said, covering.

"You're still worried about getting into Berkeley, aren't you?" Jimmy guessed.

"No, yes, it's just that I want to go there so much…and there are no guarantees," Kirsten admitted.

"Well, if anyone's a shoe in, it's you. Don't worry, okay? Remember I want to go there too," Jimmy said as he wrapped his arm around her.

"Okay. And don't you worry either. Um, I have to get to my last class now…I'll see you later then…after the mail comes," she said.

"After the mail. Bye!" Jimmy said and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kirsten rang the doorbell at Jimmy's house, carrying her college mail in her hands. She had gotten quite a few large envelopes and some small ones too. Usually large envelopes were a good sign and smaller envelopes were not…but it all depended on the school.

Jimmy came to the door a moment later and practically screamed, "I didn't get into Berkeley, Kirst! Shit, what are we going to do!"

"Jimmy, calm down…I don't even know if I got in…remember I was waiting to open it until I got here…hey, wait a minute. You are playing an April Fool's joke on me, aren't you! Haha, very funny," Kirsten told him.

"No, I swear this is no joke. Look, read the letter," Jimmy said, holding it up in front of her.

" 'Dear Mr. James Cooper,'" Kirsten read from the letter. " 'After careful consideration of your application, we regret to inform you that you have been denied admission to the University of California at Berkeley…' oh jeez, Jimmy, I'm so sorry," she said and gave him a hug.

"Thanks, Kirst…I guess I just thought that we would be able to go to the same college…I don't know what I will do without you," Jimmy told her.

"Jimmy, I still don't know if I got in yet…you're jumping to conclusions," Kirsten reminded him.

Jimmy gave her a look and said, "Then open it up."

Kirsten took the envelope marked with Berkeley's return address on it. It was one of the smaller envelopes, so she was bit nervous when she went to open it. When she took out the letter, she hesitated for a second and then started reading out loud, " 'Dear Miss Kirsten Nichol. After careful consideration of your application, we are pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to the University of California at Berkeley for the Fall Semester of 1981. Your housing materials should be arriving in the mail shortly…'" Kirsten trailed off, stopping in the middle of the letter. She didn't know how to react. Inside she was jumping up and down. She got into her first choice school and she couldn't help, but crack a smile. But at the same time, she didn't want to make Jimmy feel even more badly than he already did.

"It's okay, Kirst. You can be excited. I'm really happy for you," Jimmy said as he hugged her and gave her a kiss.

Kirsten looked up at him and her small smile grew into a larger one. She broke away from his embrace and yelled, "Yes!" as she threw her arms up and danced around the room. After a minute, she calmed herself down and said, "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to get that excited. It's just…"

"Hey, no need to explain. You're entitled to happiness. I mean, you've been talking about going to Berkeley for like two years, and you did it. You got in! Besides, I knew you had a better shot than I did…I mean, your grades and test scores are higher than mine…" Jimmy trailed off.

"Still, I was hoping we would both get in," Kirsten sighed.

"Well, why don't we open the rest of our envelopes…see what other schools I get rejected from and you get accepted to," Jimmy suggested.

"Stop being so pessimistic. I'm sure you got into some good schools," Kirsten insisted.

"Okay fine," Jimmy said, opening a new envelope.

After opening all of the college mail, Kirsten found out that she had also been accepted to UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, USC, University of Pennsylvania, Boston College, and Harvard, in addition to Berkeley. She was rejected at Georgetown, Columbia, and Princeton. Jimmy was accepted at UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, USC, NYU, and Boston College. He was rejected from University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Princeton.

"What are we going to do?" Kirsten sighed.

"You are going to go to Berkeley like you want to. And I…well, I need to figure out where I want to go," Jimmy said.

"But, Jimmy…I…" Kirsten tried to find the words, but couldn't.

"Kirsten, as much as I want to go to college with you, I'm not going to stop you from going to the school that you want to go to. I'll just have to deal with it. I want you to be happy," Jimmy told her.

"Well, you might not be the one that stops me…my dad is not going to like the idea of me going to Berkeley," Kirsten said.

"Why don't you go home…tell your parents where you got in…and try to talk to your dad about Berkeley," Jimmy suggested.

"You can't talk to my dad…but I guess I'll have to try. I'll call you later then," Kirsten said, getting up from the couch.

"Bye, Kirst," Jimmy said and gave her a kiss.

"Bye," she replied and walked out the door.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kirsten was sitting at the dinner table, waiting for the meal to begin. As soon as her mother brought in the food, her father sat down and started in on her. "So, Kiki. Your mother tells me that you got your college acceptance letters today."

"Yeah, Dad. I got into UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Penn, USC, Harvard, Boston College, and Berkeley."

"What…no Georgetown, Columbia, or Princeton! Oh, it doesn't matter anyway. Now the way I see it, it's really a choice between Penn, USC, and Harvard. After all, those are the schools with the best business programs," Caleb said.

"What about Berkeley, Dad? That has a really good business program too," Kirsten told him.

"Berkeley! That liberal hotbed! I thought that I told you that I don't want you going there. It's a public school…you'll slip through the cracks. And I don't care if it does have a good business program. You need to be at a conservative, private school," Caleb informed.

Kirsten could feel the anger inside her building with every word her father spoke and finally let it out, "No, Dad! I want to go to Berkeley! I have made it clear for two years that I wanted to go there! I just applied to those other schools to make you happy! And another thing, I don't want to major in business! I want to major in art history! I'm sick of you grooming me to take over your company! Controlling me! I'm going to Berkeley!" After she was through, Kirsten stormed out of the room, practically running up to her room, hearing her father call after her. She didn't stop, though, until she was in her room.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was two hours after her blowout with her father, and Kirsten still hadn't left the room. She walked over to her phone that had started ringing. She picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Hey, Kirst! It's Kelly."

"Oh, hey Kell. How's it going?"

"Pretty good! Actually, very good! I got into UCLA!" Kelly yelled into the phone.

"That's great!" Kirsten told her. "I'm really happy for you!"

"Yeah, get to carry on the Connor family tradition. So what about you? Did you get into Berkeley?"

"Yeah I did," Kirsten said, trying to sound excited.

"What's the matter? I thought you wanted to go there?"

"Yeah, well my dad doesn't want me to go there. I just had a huge argument with him."

"I'm sorry Kirst."

"I just don't know what to do…plus Jimmy didn't get into Berkeley, so…" Kirsten trailed off.

"Kirst, first of all, and this is going to sound kind of bad, but you shouldn't think of Jimmy. You need to pick a school because you want to go there…not because Jimmy wants you to…otherwise, you might regret it later," Kelly advised.

"Yeah, I know," Kirsten answered.

"As for your dad, you should try to talk to him again after things cool off. You might be surprised…I mean, he loves you, so maybe he'll reconsider. Plus I have a feeling your mom will have a different take on this whole thing."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Kirsten said.

"Okay, I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow," Kelly said.

"Bye, Kell!"

"Bye, Kirst!" and Kirsten hung up the phone after Kelly's final words.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Katherine approached Caleb's office and peered in. His head was buried in his hands, as if he was stressed out. She softly knocked on the door as she entered. When Caleb looked up, Katherine said, "Still thinking about that argument with Kirsten?"

"Kate, I don't think we've ever had a worse argument," he sighed.

"You'll work it out…I know how much you can't stand a fight with Kirsten," she told him.

"I just don't know how this one will get worked out," Caleb said.

"How about by letting her go to Berkeley? Letting her do something to make her happy," Katherine told him.

"I can't believe you would allow that," Caleb said.

"What I want is for my daughter to be happy," she stated.

"I just don't want her getting any radical ideas…and I don't want something to happen to her up there. The city is filled with bums," Caleb informed.

"Cal, USC and Penn are in worse neighborhoods than Berkeley is," Katherine said, poking a hole in his theory.

"Well, at least they are private schools. I just want what's best for Kirsten," Caleb stated.

"I think the best thing is to let her choose where she wants to go. Let her be happy," Katherine started. "Just promise me that you will give serious consideration to let her go to Berkeley."

"Alright, I will. I do want her to be happy too," Caleb concluded.

"Thank you, honey," Katherine smiled and gave him a kiss.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I do not own the following universities: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Boston College, Georgetown, Princeton, Columbia, New Your University, USC.

Okay, I know that all college acceptance letters don't arrive on the same day, but they all arrive by April 1st, so I thought it would be easier if they all came at once.

The quote, "slip through the cracks," is from the season one episode, "The Girlfriend," when Caleb says that he wants to get more involved in the company again because "things are slipping through the cracks."

Sorry…not too much Kirsten/Jimmy action…I'll get back to that soon.